Myths of Gunpowder
by italiciguana
Summary: Sakura joins a team of shinobi interested in implementing new technology to the village. In order to secure the project's future, she fabricates a mission and enlists the help of Kakashi, ignoring all possible consequences, emotional and physical.
1. Chapter 1

Crouching behind the corpse of an enemy on a chaotic battlefield, Sakura felt a surge of pride course through her heart. She was pumped on adrenaline, and already she had killed five men. Never before had she fought so valiantly in the face of such a difficult enemy; from dawn that day Sakura had been prepared to fight at a moment's notice, and she did not whimper when any man's throat had been cut.

Ahead she could see the subtle stirrings of a genjutsu. This was her chance; Sakura raced toward the enemy shinobi. Though she could not see them, she could see the changes in her comrades. With great study, she considered just how they could have fallen victim to the trick, and decided to test out her theory.

Her teammates were literally frozen, or at least they had assumed so. They shivered, and spoke about how to defrost themselves – one suggested they set fire to the shells of ice slowly encasing them in a wintry tomb.

Sakura had little time. She knew she would not be able to reach them with her voice, and any of her healing techniques were forbidden to be used, even in this situation. She had to free them without injury, or they would return to Konoha bitter at her lack of prowess in battle.

She ran around aimlessly, as if she were looking for something. Within a moment she felt a strange cloud surrounding her – it was not a visible one, despite what she _saw_. Sakura stopped, pretending to panic, and began to _think_.

She would only have a small window to find just where the enemy shinobi was hiding. She used her monstrous strength to crack the bedrock beneath her, and she began a jutsu to grow vines. It need not be strong – but as it took root, it began to flower, and the pollen spread. Inside each pollen was a little of Sakura's chakra.

Her body became colder, and she shivered; though Sakura knew she could cancel the genjutsu, she had to hang on just a little bit-

_There!_

Sakura's chakra in the pollen felt an unusual barrier. The air was thicker here than anywhere else, and it had a resistance from the flow of chakra.

_Yes!_ She could pinpoint him out now – over behind the small trees. Terrible cover, but no one had thought to look there. She mentally cursed herself for that assumption. Sakura charged more chakra to her fist and slammed it into the ground. The vines that had burrowed in jumped into the air and grabbed onto the pollen, and they exploded together in an hellish allergen cloud.

She slipped through and raced toward enemy nin, a kunai in her hand. He ducked behind one of the narrow trees for cover. Sakura whispered a jutsu and threw. She had no intention of hitting him.

The kunai pierced the trunk of the tree and exploded into a cascade of vines that wrapped around and grabbed the enemy nin. Sakura jumped over the mass of plant and landed square in front of him.

"_MERCY!"_ he shouted. Sakura smirked, and charged her fist once more. He never got another word in.

* * *

><p>Ino jostled Sakura awake from her stupor. "Forehead, how could you?"<p>

"There were too many holes in the program." Sakura batted Ino's hands away from her and sat up from the machine. They were in a small room inside the hospital basement, and to Sakura's surprise Ino was still hooked to the sensors. She had dragged her machine over to Sakura's cot, her face set in anger. Sakura could see that Ino's heartbeat had quickened after her false death. "You created the situation by the book. We can't use this in our trials."

"Not use it?" Ino's heartbeat started to venture toward a concerning intensity. "But it was beautiful, it was like we were really there! We've never had a more realistic setting! I even remembered to move the clouds, and give them shapes!"

"Yes, but it was too easy to beat."

Sakura watched Ino's face fall. She felt a little bad – she had spent the last two weeks criticizing Ino for having hilariously cartoonish settings, and Sakura had to admit that she really felt in the moment.

"Your settings are too... too _boring_." Ino began. "I won't get started on how dull the landscape is, or even that you create worse characters than Shikamaru, but you really think I did such a bad job? That was our best setting ever!"

Sakura sighed. "It was, but your enemy didn't truly react as a real person would."

"Yeah, but he was _powerful_. No normal shinobi could have beaten him!"

"I just did. It doesn't matter how powerful the enemy is; we've all faced more powerful opponents that we defeated not by strength, but by wit. Even Naruto manages it." Sakura demanded to see Ino's algorithm, which she handed over with a bit of a fuss. "See, you have only a few subroutines, and they all loop. There are no if and then statements. Your enemy has no history, has no future. He just keeps going on with brute force. You did not even prepare a victory."

Ino snorted and laid back onto her cot. The room, kept abnormally cold, was now uncomfortably hot. Both women wiped sweat from their brows. The room's power was shutting down, and there was still a charge in the air. They had to be careful not to move around so much – the computer was a bit fussy after a genjutsu game. Even now the technicians were waiting outside the door; it was too dangerous to just stroll in. That was only acceptable if something... _unfortunate_ happened to one of the participants.

"A victory?" Ino asked. "Why even bother with that? As soon as a participant is killed, they are thrown from the setting."

Sakura nodded. "Yes, but you would have been thrown from the game if I had been killed too. You forget too much. Maybe I should not have sent you to work on your algorithm with Sai. He spends too much time creating birds that do nothing. Your algorithm is even tedious – did you really need to design _fifty_ types of flowers? How long did you have to sit for the machine to compile that idea?"

Ino looked down with guilt, and mouthed, _"But it felt so real..._"

The door opened and Shikamaru walked in with a clipboard. At his side, Sai was plugging into a set of calculations furiously, and his face was set with anger. Sakura would have laughed if this all was not so serious – any mistake could fry their brains, and very few of them had the mathematical ability she had.

Sakura was deeply worried that the poor education system for shinobi in Konoha could get them all killed.

"She's right." Shikamaru said. "The machine's temperature reached the critical level; I had considered asking the technicians to shut it down. Any longer, and there could have been a short circuit."

Both women blanched at the thought.

"We really need more memory." Sakura said. "While Ino should not have programmed that many flowers over logic, we still need more memory if we are going to make the settings realistic."

Sai stopped his calculations and looked up. "We can't do that. Already we have ordered far too many mechanical parts, and we have reports from Naruto in the field that word is starting to reach the other villages."

Shikamaru made a face. Sakura could see that he had considered ordering more. She had asked for it, even pleaded for it, but they were right. There was simply no way of getting the parts on the sly.

"But we must be the first ones to implement this technology." she said. "Can't we just... _steal_ it?"

"Steal it?" Ino looked aghast. "Are you stupid, forehead? Even the rogue shinobi avoid stealing from the foreign merchants. They have _guns_."

Everyone in the room shivered. There was no more dangerous a weapon for a shinobi than a firearm. They were strictly outlawed throughout the continent; not for the safety of the villages but for the residue chakra left in the shinobi countries. However, the port cities in which the foreign merchants traded were allowed to have them.

"We would be unable to enter the ports detected." Shikamaru made a face, because no shinobi had successfully survived such an attempt. "If we were to steal anything, it would have to be from the rogues, and we cannot afford the manpower for that mission. Tsunade would never sign off of it."

Tsunade was on the verge of canceling the program altogether; if she would not allow funds for purchasing more equipment, she would never allow such a mission. It could result in the termination of their contract with the ports in Water Country. The foreign merchants had an invested interest in the purchasing power of the rogue shinobi.

But Sakura had been thinking on this for the last month, and she already had a plan.

The problem was that it required going behind the Hokage's back.

* * *

><p>"You can't go through with this!" Ino pleaded with her friend after leaving the hospital. It was midday, and Sakura shushed her friend. Even here, in their own village, the Gen-Game project's future was unsure, and domestic and foreign spies were a concern. "Don't block me out; listen to me! What you are planning could shut us down completely!"<p>

"If we don't get a new shipment of parts, it's all over." Sakura whispered, mindful of the strange looks they were getting from civilians. "Any delay in our progress could get us behind – for once, _for once_, we are ahead of the curve of the rogue shinobi. The other villages don't have the knowledge on how to build a machine like ours, but the rogue shinobi will _sell_ it to them. Tensions are already high – they'll have an unfair advantage should war break out again!"

Ino bit her lip. Sakura could see that Ino saw the logic as truth, but the other kunoichi could not ignore the possible consequences of Sakura's actions. She pushed her into into an alleyway and threw up a quick jutsu to silence their conversation.

"And pretending to vouch the interest of a wealthy daimyo isn't doing to increase tensions?" Sakura could see anger in Ino's face, as if she wanted to throttle her. Whether it was from her criticism of her setting, or because of the situation was not entirely clear... perhaps it was both. "At best, Tsunade will cancel the program; at worst the council could throw us into prison! I'm not even accounting for the _nightmare_ scenarios!"

"Then we just won't let Tsunade find out!" Sakura argued. "She doesn't understand how important technology is for our future; already Kirigakure has outpaced their potential completely! All they did was update their radio communications, and we are behind on that. We may never catch up!"

_Everything_ in Konoha was outdated – the council did not want to implement anything. Their project was running on a shoestring, and half of it had been funded through a donation by the son of the daimyo's kindness! And that was gone already.

"I just can't believe you had this planned." Ino sound defeated, and her hand's unclenched and fell from Sakura's shoulders. "I thought it was outrageous you had Naruto sabotaging the rogue shinobi's trade routes... but _this?_ Nobody even told me..."

Sakura could see how hurt Ino was. Normally Ino outranked Sakura in everywhere but the hospital room. Ino led her own team of genin, was an heir and council member... could lead an entire _battalion_ on a battlefield. The most responsibility Sakura was afforded was in the operating room, and if she _was_ on a mission it was only triage.

"I... I wouldn't have stopped you..."

Sakura sighed. "This Gen-Game means a lot you; it does to me too. Imagine how wonderful your settings could be if we had the memory to allow for your realism! But without the memory, without the parts, we'll never be able to send this to trials."

Without the memory, what they were doing now could overheat the machines and someone could die.

"But how are we going to get this mission cleared?" Ino asked. "Tsunade would never allow this level of subterfuge; the treaty allows only civilian commissioned missions of that kind, and we can't hide this kind of mission in the books. It requires too much preparation... too much _money_. The samurai will know right away we did something illegal."

Sakura pointed out of the alleyway and toward a store. Ino followed her finger and peered over the heads of pedestrians to read a sign that simply read _Liquor_.

"It's not going to be in the books."

* * *

><p>It took two weeks of careful planning before Shikamaru agreed to sign off on Sakura's unofficial mission. Ino had complained bitterly at first, and Sai had wanted to wait until Naruto and Kiba's team returned, but both argued that Kiba's tracking would not be necessary for the mission. The routes of the rogue shinobi were pretty clear close to the ports, and all that was really required was good acting, something that the rest of their project lacked.<p>

"When Chouji returns from training, he and Sakura will head out. They'll pretend to be the wealthy vassals of the Tea Country Daimyo seeking to purchase supplies for their army. The rogue shinobi will likely use the legal trade route established to hide their own shipment."

"How do we know that they will ship their orders this this legal route?" Sai asked. "There is no guarantee..."

But the two weeks spent planning had been to anticipate this unfortunate probability.

"We're going out on a limb," he said. "Iwagakure is slated to purchase a large order of basic communications equipment. These are large supply orders, and require a host of rogue shinobi to guard it."

"We're going to rob _that_?" Ino asked reluctantly.

"Yes, and no." Shikamaru responded.

They had all gathered in a small office room off the basement storage where the machines of their operation were located. Each computer was the size of a hospital room; the communications equipment being ordered was about the same size. He spread out documents detailing their plan, and Ino grabbed an order diagram.

"What Chouji and Sakura will be doing is a basic switch; they are going to rendezvous with the rogue shinobi, and alter Iwagakure's order. We won't be able to get the best machines, but stealing a basic order of communications equipment should allow us the memory needed; since Konoha already has sufficient radio communications no suspicion should fall on us."

"But Tea Country are our allies!" Ino retorted.

"Again, no suspicion should fall on us."

Truth be told, Sakura did not like the plan either, but, just as Sakura had expected, even Ino relented. It was their best plan, and it was not like Konohagakure did not act against their allies in favor of personal benefit.

"I don't like it!" Ino said after a moment of pouring over the details. "This mission, this... _false_ mission requires the utmost secrecy and perfection of execution. If anything goes wrong, we can't send out help! How would we even explain it?"

"If we don't move now, we won't make our trial deadline." Sai replied with reluctance. Though Ino was the most vocal, Sai seemed to be the most disapproving. He did not like going behind the Hokage's back; half of their sabotage actions against the rogue shinobi had been secret until Tsunade found out six months ago. She would have canceled it, had it not been for the project's plead of a definite deadline. But now it was getting closer. "If we fail, we must give up the project; Tsunade has already agreed not to scrap the material, and give it to communications."

"I know Tsunade prefers funding the radio project," Shikamaru said, "but she does not see the need for our own technological niche. Kirigakure has the best access to technology, and the other villages have more available funds and shinobi since the war. This Gen-Game could give us an advantage no other village could match – no other rogue shinobi group could match."

"We could wipe out the rogue shinobi and keep our end of the treaty," Ino liked that idea. "But at what cost? No village has really acted out against them despite the treaty – we all need access to the foreign market."

They both needed to execute this mission, and knew the consequences if they were caught.

"We won't fail!" Sakura said, "Chouji and I will get in, get out, and no one would be any wiser."

But when Chouji returned from his training the next day, he had not received the urgent note from Shikamaru not to overextend himself with his cousins out in the forest. Shikamaru walked into the basement office and slammed his forehead against the table in exasperation. Chouji had broken his leg in six places, and it would take a month to heal properly.

The mission was set to begin in three days.

* * *

><p>In order to secure their false mission's secrecy, the group had entered engagements as an alibi. Shikamaru had taken the lead in a program at the academy, which he was unable to renege on without any suspicion on his motives. Ino was never an option to join in on the mission, as she was a critical component in her clan's political future, and was to meet with the council four times over the next two weeks, the estimated time frame of the mission. Sai could go, but it was a risk the project could not afford, as he was the liason with Naruto and the others. For the first time in months, Sakura wished Neji had not backed out of the project, but with Tenten about to go in labor at any moment, there would be no way he would agree to go; and anyway, he had backed out because of the subterfuge the project participated in, he would probably nark.<p>

Lee, of course, was the worst possible choice for a mission like this.

But Sakura could not go alone, so she sat in her office at the hospital, waiting for the call. When she first told the others about her back up plan, the only one that had been a spur of the moment decision, they were reluctant to agree, but as two days passed and Sai was unable to get a timely response from Naruto, it became clear they had no other option.

"_No way!"_ Sakura remembered Ino shouting, as soon as it had been decided. _"He is the _worst_ choice for this mission! How is Sakura going to lie to him and keep the project secret? The last time we tried to bring him in, he told the Hokage what we were doing! We're in this situation BECAUSE OF HIM!"_

It required an entirely new reworking of the plan, and it even had to be "official," whereas before Chouji and Sakura were to be sent out to retrieve _medical_ supplies for the hospital. Their carefully designed plan had to be scrapped, because any of the stated mission objectives actually had to be completed now.

So when Sakura got the summons to go the Hokage tower for an emergency mission, her anxiety caused her to snap and break her pen. Her chakra flared, and even became visible when the pen shattered. The messenger, a cute little chunin whom Sakura healed after the recent exams, gulped.

"Um... Haruno-san?" he ventured nervously. "I know... I know you might be _busy_, but it is an emergency, so-"

Sakura held her hand and gathered her things. She had been prepared to go with Chouji, had even looked forward to it, but now she wished that she had just accepted the potential risk Lee introduced.

There was no way she could lie to _him._

Sakura just prayed she did not get caught until after the false mission was a success; if they got the machines, the village would eagerly accept it despite the subterfuge. Maybe, just _maybe_, Tsunade would agree to allow them to continue into trials...

When Sakura arrived at the tower, she waited thirty-minutes before her partner was to arrive. Even with the group anticipating his tardy arrival, she expected to see him shortly after she stepped into the office. Instead she had to wait, sitting on a chair twiddling her thumbs as the Hokage's substitute mission executor signed off on a barrage of missions.

Too many people seeing her here, too many chances for it to be spread. She looked up at the clock and wondered just how long until Tsunade sobered up enough to step in to complete her job, but Sakura never had that worry to contemplate seriously.

Kakashi stepped into the room with a frown, perhaps annoyed at having to complete an _"emergency C-Class"_ mission, completely below his pay-grade and ability. But he did seem to smile when he realized Sakura was there, and even seemed a bit more genial to Shikamaru as he read off the objectives. After all, he got to spend time with one of teammates, and that wasn't so bad, right? It had been six months since they had gone on a mission together, and Sakura _had_ forgiven him recently.

But Sakura stood rigid the entire time, and she could sense the growing apprehension in Kakashi's face. There was no way she could lie to her own sensei about the mission, no way she could go behind his back. He was against the project completely, and had been suspicious of many of their activities. One wrong move on the mission could endanger its future, because Sakura was certain he would turn them in.

However, she also knew that without backup, if _anything_ were to go wrong, she would never return to Konohagakure again.

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Note<strong>

Thanks for reading the first chapter of _Myths of Gunpowder_. As you can see, it has a bit of a cyberpunk feel to it, which I hope you will enjoy. I wanted to try a bit of a different setting for this fan fiction, and I always wondered what would happen if technology was explored more in Naruto, but it was used alongside canon abilities.

Thanks for giving this story a go; I hope you look forward to the next chapter!


	2. Chapter 2

Kakashi and Sakura left within a few hours of the briefing. Now that they were on their way Kakashi had taken out the map and began considering all possible paths they could take.

"If we go through the Kousakuinita route, we should reach Kashiwagi before Thursday. That should allow us to finish the mission two days early." he said.

They could take no detours.

"Shikamaru said there were rogue shinobi on Kousakuinita; it would be better to just take the route in our mission details." Sakura tried to say this in a conversational way, but she could tell by the way his eyebrow raised that it was more of an... _order_.

"Well, I suppose that's okay." Kakashi replied with a tense smile. "We haven't gotten to spend much time together lately. Everyone is so busy."

He would not dare bring up her current project, and neither would she. The less he suspected, the better.

"But isn't this an emergency?"

Sakura stopped, forgetting that little _detail_ of their lie. "I... I... I _guess_ so."

She had to think fast. Why would Shikamaru send them on a scenic route if it was an emergency? Did they really think so little before assigning this false mission? _Think, think, think!_

And then, just as suddenly as he had brought it up, she had an idea.

"It's classified as an emergency because the herbs in our medications are running low." she tapped her lip, as if in thought. "Ino noticed an error in our order forms. We have enough for the next two weeks, but not after that."

A lie. A _bold_ lie. Sakura prayed that no one would ever double-check the mission details with the hospital records within the next few weeks. While this mission was not of a magnitude that would justify an independent audit, they would have to fudge a lot of paperwork, and that took _time_. The fact that they missed this part already was a bad sign. Were they really getting that sloppy?

Kakashi seemed to accept this, but after a few minutes down the road, and midway into an entirely new subject, he brought it up again: "But don't you file the orders?"

That was true.

Sakura blushed, and her fingers covered her mouth. Instead of getting suspicious, Kakashi only smiled beneath his mask.

"I see..." Kakashi chuckled. "_You_ made the mistake."

She playfully slapped him.

_Thank God._

Perhaps tricking Kakashi would not be so difficult after all.

* * *

><p>It took three days before the pair reached Kashiwagi. For the most part, it had been a genial trip, and Sakura had enjoyed it. Little was brought up about her side project, which she had effectively dissuaded Kakashi from mentioning after a blow-up on the second day. They did not talk to each other for two hours, but eventually Kakashi relented and did not bring it up again.<p>

That is, until they took their lunch at a small cafe while they awaited for their order to fill. Sakura had become anxious, because she knew that it would only be a few minutes until their false mission began, and the sudden mention of the Gen-Game project set her over the edge.

_No, please don't talk about it now! What if you catch on?_

"I really think you should give up the project." he said. "The council is already set to vote against it, and with the Hyuuga adamant about canceling it, things can get a bit finicky."

"I'm not scared about the Hyuuga." she poked at her lunch, no longer feeling any appetite for noodles. "I don't want Konoha to get behind just because it is _expensive_."

Though Kakashi had long since abandoned his vehement disapproval of the project, he still made her nervous whenever he got so serious. She really... _feared_ how he would respond if he knew how far they had come in the last six months. What he once disapproved of, he would now seek to destroy. Well, he had _tried_ that already, but the project would not survive despite their precautions if he got involved again. Not that they would believe any of his _lies_ either.

That was why she really needed the memory; then the last hurdle, the _dangerous_ quality of it, would be overcome. They already had the ability to meet their target, they just had to ensure the safety of the participants.

"The expense is not affordable in the long-term." he had already finished his meal without her seeing; Sakura assumed he had gobbled it down when she began to avoid looking him in the eye. Come to think of it, he had brought it up the day before during lunch too. Would this be a common occurrence? "These _foreign_ machines cost too much. Where is the money going to come from? We can't sell the technology. I don't see why you don't agree with me that training will be enough."

"Do we have to talk about this?" she asked. "Every time we talk about it, we argue."

"I intend to argue with you."

Sakura could not afford to take the bait, especially when the clerk from the store approached them. She had run across town completely out of breath.

"Haruno-san!" she called out before even reaching their table. "Something's happened with your order!"

Normally the clerk, a bright girl named Chinatsu Sakura had befriend before when purchasing supplies, was a calm individual and quite against perspiration. Sakura felt a bit guilty about the lie she fabricated for this mission, and how it even extended to civilians outside of Konoha.

"What is it?" She asked, and instantly regretted her lack of urgency, so she ratcheted it up a notch. "Has something gone _wrong_?"

Nothing _ever_ went wrong with this company; they were perfect! Sakura regretted how this would tarnish their record. Their record was the precise reason why Konoha chose to go with them when ordering medical supplies. Not exactly a safe aspect of their false mission, but it would look even shadier to suddenly go with a new company.

"Your order... _huh_... it... _huh_-" Chinatsu pounded her chest furiously.

"Take a breath." Kakashi told her. "It can wait another minute."

But the clerk shook her head viciously. "It can't... _huh..._ half your order_... huh_... was lost en route! The caravan... _huh_... had trouble with bandits!"

"So it can't be delivered on time?" Sakura asked. "How long is the wait?"

It was long enough to warrant her next action.

"At _least_ a week!" Chinatsu said. "And what is on board is red pansy paste, a critical agent in one of your salves for surgery! Without it... without it..." the clerk had caught her breath, but the reality of the 'situation' was too much.

Kakashi's glanced at Sakura with a brow raised, so she took to a brief explanation.

"It prevents infection from chakra burns." she said, looking 'concerned'. "_Without_ it, patients have a 30% increase rate of fatality within the first seventy-two hours."

"You made this level of a mistake?"

Sakura could see that Kakashi was surprised, and she would have been ashamed and defensive if it had actually happened; but she knew that there were two month's worth back in Konoha, and no one's lives were in danger.

"How far is the caravan from here?" she asked.

But the clerk shook her head. "You can't go after it _now_; it is three days away! You need to take the rest of the supplies back to Konoha before then. The Chicken-Salt would expire by then."

"The Chicken-Salt?" Sakura asked with credulously. "That was not in our emergency form."

"_Chicken-salt? _You put that stuff in people?_"_ Kakashi had wondered out loud, a bit unlike him.

"It's harmless!" she fired back, a bit annoyed at his lack of knowledge of medical supplies. He _really_ needed to spend more time in the hospital. Sakura hoped she never got hurt on the battlefield. Kakashi would not understand _any_ of what was in her pack. "It's made of herbs; it just _smells_ like chicken."

"And it goes bad easily!" Chinatsu told him, before adding apologetically to Sakura: "I'm sorry, but we decided to just send the chicken-salt a little early since you were coming. We had already received it" _something Sakura had planned at great personal financial expense _"and figured that prepping it for travel would be the best for your hospital. It is so rare that we get an extra order in, and we know how important it is for chakra-depletion recovery!"

Most of it was used to heal over-eager shinobi training for the chunin and jonin exams, and, by the look on Kakashi's face, anyone who overextended themselves on a mission.

"Kakashi." Sakura began, tentatively. "The chicken-salt is a really expensive ingredient, and we can't have it going bad despite it being an overflow order. I need you to take what we already have back to Konoha; I'll track the caravan down and get the red pansy paste."

"I can't take it back all by myself." he said.

But the clerk knew her products. "Aside from the chicken-salt, nothing else will go bad. You can take a backpack of the less volatile and in-demand supplies back to Konoha instead. I think Haruno-san can take what is needed from the caravan and have the rest delivered here later."

And, on que, Kakashi objected.

"She'll have to take the Kousakuinita route, which we have been ordered not to take."

Chinatsu began to tear up. "Oh no, I'm _so_ sorry! Many of the supplies are so volatile too! It would never last a quick trip through the rocky Shoubai route."

It had been the path they had taken, which Sakura had to admit was a bit... _tricky_ in some places. It was why many of the machine orders went on Kousakuinita... and the precise reason why Sakura had to avoid it on the way here. She could not be seen before her rendezvous; Sakura had it on good authority from Sai that the eastern route of this time table was taken by the men she wished to meet. And Kakashi was likely recognized among them. It would not have been an issue with Chouji.

But, this had been part of her plan since they had taken on the _Kakashi Liability_ quotient of the mission. The men would not take that route on the way back, and Sakura did not want to take any chances of the materials being discovered by thieves. That would even be worse than Kakashi discovering she had lied to him and broken one of the village's strictest laws. Because then, the world would know they had broken the treaty in the worst way possible.

"Kakashi can take Shoubai and return in time to escort the supplies down Kousakuinita." Sakura said. "It's the only method I can think that will work. The hospital will run out if I were to take Shoubai on my way back."

"We shouldn't have taken the detour." he told her as they walked to the store. The clerk loaded up the supplies he would take before handing Sakura a map of the route of the caravan.

"Forgive me then." she responded. "We'll have to deal with what we have."

"Be back in time." He told her as he slipped the bag onto his back. "And be careful; this is off the books. Tsunade would be furious!"

"Then don't tell her!" Sakura said, realizing this was the perfect cover. Tsunade _knew_ the order forms like the back of her hand. "She'll punish me for my mistake!"

Kakashi smiled, but this time a bit mischievously. "We'll see about that."

And he left. Sakura knew he was only joking, and even if she didn't... their new plan only gave her six days to rendezvous with the rogue shinobi and get the supplies from the caravan.

And she had to do this part alone.

* * *

><p>Even though Sakura knew that the rendezvous was not as dangerous as her next step, she would be less convincing without her "husband." It would set up a red flag, but Sakura would just have to hope to pull through. If she failed to show it would put any future attempts in jeopardy, as they would meet with the Tea Country daimyo and discover no such plan existed.<p>

Still, she had not _anticipated_ how frightening it would be to meet with a representative of the rogue shinobi without Chouji. It would require the use of a chakra suppressant medication, and she would be without any of her powers for two days. Then she would have to make her move... and hope she had enough of her strength to get her to the caravan in time. She had the note sent to Chinatsu tell the wrong coordinates, but it was still much farther than Sakura would have liked, and she _really_ did not like having those medical supplies in a location unknown to her country, even if they were actually surplus.

"I think this hōmongi is beautiful!" the attendant said, breaking Sakura out of her thoughts. She was standing inside a shop near the port getting fitted for a kimono she had neither the wealth nor the rank to wear. "Is it really for your aunt? I think you look stunning."

Sakura smiled at the attendant. "No, but thank you. I am not married, and this is a gift. Luckily we are the same size. I could not have walked away without buying it!"

Of course, the attendant should have asked why a traveler such as herself would be buying such an expensive kimono; nothing that Sakura wore suggested she could have afforded it, and indeed Sakura had borrowed the funds for this from Ino. Well, at least the Yamanaka clan would have another hōmongi, as if they did not have enough already.

At least the Yamanaka were on their side. If only they could have brought more Yamanaka in, but they needed plausible deniability for the project if anything went wrong. They were doing this at great risk to their clan's reputation, but they also were good candidates at making settings. Only Kurenai was a better setting creator, but that ship had sailed.

An hour later Sakura left the inn room she had rented in a rush. She had to dispatch a shadow clone to help her put on her clothes and makeup, and despite being a little critical of the application, she felt it did a decent job. She was careful not to look unladylike as she raced across town toward a mercenary guild where she hired a bodyguard.

Not a shinobi, of course, and completely useless against the likes of a rogue shinobi, but suitable for the wife of a feudal lord's employment.

"My lady," he said as they left the town, "Where are we headed?"

While Sakura looked the part, she found it difficult to retain the composure required of a feudal lord's wife. Her kunoichi classes were of great help, but Sakura had never gone on a mission to warrant their application until now.

She might be able to fool a mercenary, but if she made a mistake she would not fool a rogue shinobi. Especially since they dined with many leaders.

Along the way she chatted with the bodyguard, who called himself _Shuten_, telling him suitable lies and building a good rapport. She believed Shuten would protect her, as he seemed absolutely infatuated, which was all well and good from _bandits_. Still, she would be essentially helpless.

The walk towards the nearby town of Hyougai was nerve racking. She sensed no one following her, which was good, but she never got the opportunity to sense the area closer to the town. Halfway there she discreetly popped a chakra-suppresent into her mouth. It slid down her throat, and immediately Sakura began to feel her body numbing. She tripped.

Shuten quickly picked her up with a smile. Sakura decided she liked him better than she initially thought, and was glad to have him nearby.

Because it had only been a half a mile before they were intercepted, and Sakura could not be entirely sure her chakra was not within range when she took her pill. The man, a simple underling, showed no sign he thought of her as anything but a lady. Still, Sakura remained vigilant. She carefully eyed every direction as they walked on toward one of the base of operations for a band of rogue shinobi.

Sakura gulped as she entered the small shack through the rotten doorway, because she was not only helpless, she could not even ascertain the strength of the compound. Never before had someone from her village gotten this close, and Sakura would not be able to give any useful intel when she returned.

However, despite its modest appearance at the edge of town, she was certain there was more going on here then it appeared. When she walked across the floor it felt... _hollow_.

Sakura waited at a small table in the center of the shack for almost a half hour. She did her best to look disgusted and bored after a wary glance from one of the guards, and chose instead to ask innocent, probing questions. They remained adamant in their responses that she _wait _for their leader, and _wait_ she did. Sakura was certain they were trying her patience. She had none in this situation, but made all appearances of being afraid to Shuten.

"You'll protect me, won't you?" she asked innocently.

The mercenary seemed a bit disgruntled at his entire task, no doubt wishing he had not agreed to do this. He had shown reluctance when Sakura told him who she intended to meet with, but had not began to look visibly scared himself until they crossed the threshold.

"Of course." he responded after a moment, not even looking in her direction. Sakura did not pretend to look frightened – she genuinely was.

Shuten knew he could not survive a battle against them.

That was part of Sakura's act; a shinobi would never go in this place defenseless. That was why Sakura was so scared. She was going against everything she had learned.

"Minami-san, I welcome you."

Sakura turned at the sound of a man's voice, and quickly stood to attention. She realized her mistake instantly, because no woman of her position would have stood to a common man, and tapped her foot impatiently to save face.

"I waited too long." she said, pointing toward the clock. "My husband is sick; If I had my choice, I would have skipped our appointment altogether."

The man smiled. "I was sorry to hear that your husband was unable to join us."

The man sat down across the table from Sakura. He was not frightening in any way, but Sakura knew there was more to him then his simple and unassuming appearance would suggest. Even without her abilities, Sakura could see how worn his hands were, how gracefully he walked across the room. No ordinary man would hold himself in such a way.

Sakura would even call him attractive. He was so young... a little older than her.

For a moment, Sakura worried if he had fought in the war. Would they have seen each other before? There was no recognition in his eyes, and Sakura was careful to guard against that in her own. Even if he had been, she had spent most of it healing others, and she remembered everyone she healed. He was not among them. Did that mean he was not at war? Or that he had been, and was strong enough to avoid injury?

_Stop it!_ She told herself. _Now is not the time. You only have this moment to get this next part right!_

"I begged him to delay this meeting, as he had broken his leg." Sakura took out a sheet outlining what their false order was to include. "But he was insistent to go on; I told him that it would not be appropriate for him to appear in such a state, so I came instead. The Daimyo is counting on our family's loyalty."

The man took the order sheet from Sakura. Not at any point had he offered his name, and Sakura knew better than to ask.

"Yes, but I would not have gone if I were you either." he told her as he read over it. "A woman of your rank should not travel alone, as this meeting would require."

"I never said I traveled all this way alone."

The look the man gave her was enough for Sakura to blink at him in confusion. What did she say?

"Yes, yes of course." he said after a moment. "That would be strange, but I do not see your retinue with you."

Sakura muffled a feminine laugh. "All these years in court have proven exhaustive. One must find ways to get away without being seen."

The man handed the order off. "That is true, though I would not have pegged you to have been in court for so long. You look so... _young_. I was under the impression you had two children already?"

The others hurried off to fill the order, and Sakura found it strange that he did not haggle with her. Surely the rogue shinobi would not have accepted her demands without fuss. They were _always_ fussy.

Did he suspect her already?

"I must look pleasing to my husband." she responded. "And I am only twenty-five; a woman can marry and maintain her beauty for much longer than that."

Actually, Sakura was pushing it. She was only twenty, and while the real Lady Minami was twenty-five, Sakura was not sure _what_ she looked like. She only knew that they had rarely left Tea before.

The man watched her carefully; he did not _look_ like he suspected something, but rather-

"Sir!" Shuten stepped forward bravely. "Minami-san is a married woman, I would appreciate it if you treated her with civility."

The man's hand slammed the desk angrily, shocking Sakura. She was confused for a moment until she realized _where_ it had been. Underneath the table... was he planning to kill her?

But he had no kunai...

_Oh no_... Sakura wanted to slam her fist into his mouth. _He was going... he was going to _touch_ me!_

Sakura looked rightfully offended, but before anything could be said one of the men returned with her order. There were red marks all over it.

The rogue shinobi leader looked it over for a moment very critically.

"I'm surprised your country would be interested in hardcases; that signifies a future interest in memory." he flipped through the order. "We cannot fulfil your entire order within the timeframe you have requested; hardcases are in demand."

Foreign generators were very important for cooling rooms, and were the same size as the memory Sakura intended to get later.

"You can't fulfill the entire order?" she asked, a bit surprised. They were asking for a fourth of what Konoha had bought in the first phase of their project. Was Tea country really such an odd candidate for this? "I was under the impression you could fill _any_ order."

"I'm afraid not." he told her, placing the order down. "We can fill about half, but the rest you will have to come for later."

That was not good, not good at _all_. It would be twice as hard to make the switch now. How far would she even get before Iwagakure noticed they did not have as many memory machines as they had ordered?

"When is later?" Sakura asked.

"About a week."

_A week?_ That was far too close to when _she_ would be traveling. Would this group need to travel through the east again? Sakura did not have all the routes memorized, and was not entirely sure from which port those orders arrived. It was all a closely guarded secret.

"I can't wait that long." Sakura said. "I'll have to accept what you can give me for now."

This alarmed the men in the room.

Another _lie_ was needed.

"We are to present the machines to our Daimyo within three weeks. I could not stay that long or manage a trip so soon." she said. "Our demonstration will just have to be enough to convince him towards future orders."

After whispering towards one of the men, their leader leaned forward and bowed his head. "Alright. Minami-san, we will fillful half your order."

Sakura wanted to breathe a sigh of relief, but something kept nagging at her mind.

Why was it this easy?


End file.
